Thursday, September 2, 2010

The most recent "White America's Inconvenience Tantrum" piece yielded a lot of new readers and positive attention from various outlets, and it seems fitting to stop to say thank you. I don't know anything about the readers personally, but I do know that the websites linking to us were, in general, more intelligent and mature and far less apt to make casual jokes about genitals. Luckily, all of them happen to be quite good, so I don't feel the slightest shame in encouraging all of you to return the favor and check them out:

The Poor Man InstituteThis site sort of unsettles me, since the images at the top are all recognizable from message boards, and because of that I associate them with a couple of people I know. Obviously, the people in charge over there aren't people I know — although they seem like nice people anyway. Especially curv3ball, the only guy who's doing the linking. Actually, you know what?—screw the rest of them; I have no way of knowing if they're cool at all. Anyway, between the images and the out-of-the-blue good words, I still have to wonder what their game is. (There's not really an "about" section.) Are they trying to make me think that they're people I know? Do they like hockey and cosplay? Is that what the pictures mean?Grasping Reality with Both HandsEconomist Brad DeLong is a former Undersecretary of the Treasury from the Clinton administration and the most famous person to link here. He's a serious person with an actual job, and people pay to read things from him and hear him talk, which made me wonder if one of his grad students had access to his blog and was just pranking him. But apparently he's real. If I remember correctly, he first linked back to this site when we were making fun of Megan McArdle, which may be all the explanation one needs: everybody can put aside their differences in intellect or stature to agree that Megan McArdle sucks.

The Edge of the American WestFun people who bust on each other in their comments section and who almost all have history and philosophy degrees that they use to indoctrinate children, the same way Cleon Skousen warned us about. The first time they referred people back here — for the piece breaking down Terri Savage's personal foulness — was a lot like the first time I realized I was older than a veteran baseball player. Unless you stick around college as an instructor or advisor, professors always seem older than you. I instinctively worried that the wiser people would find problems with my sourcing or ask me uncomfortable questions in committee. Then I calmed down, realized that I wasn't naked, and that I no longer attend college. Also, remember that crack about Megan McArdle? I told you so.

Crooks and LiarsThis was really cool, because I've read it for years now. Also, David Neiwert writes there, and I've definitely poached on his insights and work in the past. Going off my extensive knowledge of the Irish from television, I can only assume that Mike Finnigan is the flashy roguish upperclassman who torments Neiwert and runs around hooting and occasionally just punches him the fuck out. Also, what a great name for a website.

Thanks again to people willing to help show our junk to new people and expose our pieces on different sites. There'll be a new SomethingAwful article coming early a.m. tomorrow. Also, please check back early next week for a new Criterion Recollection from Brendle.